pickler

as the title suggests, the throttle response is giving a weak feeling to the car. The throttle is not sensitive and it actually feels weaker than a corolla even though it's faster to 60 by about 2 seconds. i know this is not a drive by wire (electric) throttle but is there any solutions to this?

tOny3

iTrader: (9)

By "dull" what do you mean? Are you just using WOT in regular everyday uses? To get past cars etc?

If you really wanna go WOT to the fullest, turn off traction, switch to ss mode and downshift, punch it and shift at redline

03tLsNBP

iTrader: (9)

supercharge.

Skirmich

Usually I dont need to go anyway higher than 1/2 throttle in any situation Daily Driving... Check EVERYTHING.

JDTL-S2002

Pulley swap, lighter crank = quicker rev time/better throttle response.
Also give your throttle body and intake a good deep cleaning when you have a couple hours to kill one day, I noticed smoother more seamless acceleration after doing so..

01tl4tl

have you seafoamed?
cleaned the throttle body air plate? I use deep creep/seafoam aerosol there, so it lubes the pivot hinge of air plate
Ck throttle cables- they are due for remove and lube inside
clean and lube throttle return springs
adjust throttle cables properly--a little slack so it closes fully and have helper push pedal full, observe air plate operation and position
opens past `level` is losing air in
ck and lube throttle assembly under pedal
lube brake springs while there

air filter good. no broken edge on box top?
all vac lines good
motor mounts good? broken front or rear causes many problems including mystery vac leak

01tl4tl

and the old favorite--remove intake manifold and clean egr ports and passage thru manifold length
needed every 75kmiles= per our megamod with 400,000++ MILES on his 00TL

pull a spark plug to inspect wear and color
how many miles on the plugs,,correct ngk if replaced?

01tl4tl

with all your electrics,,had the system tested? alt puts out/battery holds well enough -to support stereo needs?

pickler

ok i have had all the things here mentioned done except plugs. i only have 60k miles on the plugs and i don't think i need to replace them yet? manual recommends 100k miles if i remember correctly. otherwise new battery, seafoam, fuel injector cleaner, k&n filter, tested all electronics (a/c & stereo is off most of the time). fluids are all good; fresh synthetic oil every 5k, fresh dw1 ATF. tested transmission and it's very responsive and healthy (it's the original). but im guessing maybe replace the plugs? also ride has become rough and im going to replace the shocks and springs soon, was thinking kyb oem replacement.

my problem is not lack of power. car feels quick at WOT and revs happily, last dyno was +170whp. it's just the throttle is weak at first 10-25% or it feels like it lacks low end torque. Throttle is not sharp like on other cars i have owned and driven that includes corollas, accords, e46, scion xb, sonata 2.4, elantra, wrx...

an example cruising at 70mph on the highway, need to switch lanes to avoid slow traffic, apply 10-20% throttle which results in slow accelerations. Forced to downshift to 4th helps a bit but not lively apply 50% throttle acceleration becomes adequate. end up cutting off traffic downshift to 3rd to hit 80mph, switch back to lane once overtook slow traffic. on a 2.5rs impreza i owned in 4th gear (overdrive) i would apply ~15% throttle and it would accelerate very quickly, no need to downshift.

pickler

additional notes;

plugs are oem.

acceleration feels satisfactory when at least 1/3 throttle is applied, automatically shifts at ~3.5k rpm with this much throttle.

lacks grunt under 3500 rpm.

starts are amazingly quick and quiet.

idle is ok some engine slap but mostly quiet.

combined mileage is about 21mpg mostly short city travels.

gold2003tl (90)

Replace the plugs with NGK Iridium IX, by 60k miles oem plugs aren't in great shape. Also try lubricating the gas pedal cables and cruse control cable. Also maybe check out the coil packs.

Have you ever done an EGR port cleaning?

Skirmich

LOL Replace Plugs every 2 Years! I do it every Year not Expensive.
60K is WAY Too Much.. Even if the Manual calls 100K they just want to give you the Most Economic Maintenance at 60K the Plugs are Beaten
At 100K the Plugs are Garbage.

01tl4tl

thats MAX 105 `if driven in normal service`
By the book definition, most of us are in `severe service`--short trips are hard on the car too

do the egr clean,,its definetly ready for that and the symptoms match
and replace the plugs
mine looked plenty worn at 70 and the car ran better after their install
Do the other throttle lube items, TB air plate clean, iacv clean, egr cleanout etc

In D5 at speed, the trans is operating in Overdrive,,far lower than 1 to 1 ratio final drive..(no ooooooomph made to cruise with minimum rpm)
so it must downshift into 4th which has a little power to it,,iirc its just under 1-1 ratio so not massive power available

automatics downshift when throttle applied,,they are made to do that,
various switches and sensors are involved
need real torque,,stand on throttle and it drops to 3rd!

note: you can run 3rd gear up well past any legal speed limit,,dont sweat hurting the car from that action,, to get around freeway traffic

cleaning dose= 2oz per gal fuel of seafoam in gas -2 times a year
along with the injectors and rest of system, will keep the o2 sensor and cat clean and working right = per buddy with smog shop

again, short trips are the worst for the car,,nothing gets warm enough to dry moisture out, and the engine is on the rich cycle till warm,,loads up carbon etc
Per book= if your normal drive is less than 15 minutes, once a month take the car on a freeway cruise for 45+ minutes,,
that will dry internal engine oil moisture- ps fluid moisture, atf moisture- fully charge the battery, dry the exhaust, (notice water coming from other cars tailpipes--yours are doing it too-from parking overnight) and more

Do operate the ac at least 15 minutes on that drive so it circulates needed oil to the internal seals, keeping them fresh and working
Running the ac in winter keeps it ready for summer!
thats why ac is the defrost on modern cars--to protect itself from neglect

pickler

i had the throttle cable lubricated today with no difference. the pedal only feels softer/lighter now. it still needs to downshift for adequate acceleration. seafoam made no difference 6 months ago. did emission testing with 0 CO and very little NOx. mechanics commented that this was the best etest he had seen for a v6 or bigger engine. Next i will replace the plugs, i have read online that its a waste to use ngk iridium instead of copper on our vehicles. so i'm not sure that i will shell out for ix.

Skirmich

If bet yah you didnt Read That Here.... Do Iridium IX its only 8 bucks a Plug and You OWN 3 Cars, Money Should not be an Issue for You.
And where you read it are very Wrong becouse We dont need IRIDIUM as OEM like the 3G TL but HELL we do Use and Need PLATINUM for OEM! So Copper? lol Like V-Power? NO WAY!!

pickler

lol i meant laser platinum. ya copper was the cheapest one. acura wants 400 bucks for spark plugs service plus tax. my mechanic can get me ngk laser plats for 110 bucks installed.

01tl4tl

50 bucks for 6 of the correct ngk
99s came with iridiums,,00-03 platinum
gen3 back to iridium

irids used to be way expensive--like airplane and race car use only..
but have dropped to a realistic price for street cars with HIGH ENERGY COIL ON PLUG IGNITION
ngk cost less than denso, and last longer,,as proven by fsttyms1 with over 400,000 Miles on his 00 TL

like my signature says: you can ask others or trust ziners with actual experience
Use those cheap, wrong plugs, and your next thread will be: car runs like %)R$%E after plug change!!!!

Seafoam- first timers need to do it twice, then good for a year
midyear treatment always a good plan

So your 6 month ago was a start,,now complete the job with another can in half a tank, and the vac port method for instant cleaning of piston area if desired

Cable lube--removed and lubed inside the cable, cleaned and lubed air plate inside TB and clean/lube the throttle return springs?

Karanx7

iTrader: (2)

Your signature doesn't say that anymore.

pickler

just bought the plugs. these made good difference in my impreza for throttle response and better top end power when it leans out. although i think our TLs enrich a/f at 5k rpm? im not sure if that even matters lol. hopefully they will help.

jdjohn84

Those aren't the IX plugs, but may be better than OEM. Is your K&N filter part of a CAI, or just the box filter? If the box, then you should remove your intake resonator...removing it will help with throttle response.

You should leave your gear shift in D4 until you get to about 80mph. If you leave in D5, it will constantly have to down-shift to D4 anyway (for reasons already mentioned by others). I do almost all my driving in D4. If I do go into D5, I put back into D4 when I get back down to 70mph or less (i.e., exiting the freeway, or slow down in traffic). Try it for awhile and you might like the throttle response better.

01tl4tl

the TL is NOT your impreza
try using the correct parts for the TL and see the differance
All those short trips are carbon loading the cylinders
repeat seafoam and install correct plugs to fix your problem

acura gets 25 bucks PER PLUG,,, or you can buy them at most parts stores for 8 dollars each

pickler

actually those are the correct parts i asked the dealership and thry wanted 30 per plug. i ordered these $14 per part from autopartsway which btw was listed under oem part for 3.2 tl. and yes i know they are not ix i was not planning on getting them. the difference being ir plugs last a bit longer i saw no point to pay double.

if i remove the resonator will that not leave a big hole near throttle body? i have drop in kn filter.

gold2003tl (90)

I dont understand, if you want a chance at improving throttle response get the IX plugs. Those plugs you got aren't going to provide any significant improvement over the OEM plugs.

Removing the intake resonator down in the fender well will not leave a hole near the throttle body. You can remove the other small tube resonator and plug it so you don't have a hole. Or just get a cold air intake, that will help throttle response a lot.

Karanx7

iTrader: (2)

Those are the OEM plugs that came with your car off the lot. The IX plugs are supposed to be designed with the racers in mind.

Either way, both plugs will run well in the car.

01tl4tl

if you read ngk's website to learn about plugs- you find that lazer is just the method of attachment/welding of the side electrode to plug..worth 14$?..not in my opinion

If dealer says ok- then fine use them
for me- 8 bucks each and 60kmiles a set is good with the irid IX
plain iridium supposed to last longer if thats an issue,,how many years does it take you to drive those miles? will you still have the car then?

removal of intake resonator box from inner fenderwell has numerous advantages over most cai systems,,besides the FREE part~
depending on car year (99-01) you can add cutouts for fresh air from in front of the bumper
or it will pull air from the lower grill in--to a large air storage area where the large quantity of cooler air is available -on demand of the throttle opening wide

some enlarge the 2 holes in bottem of airbox- that will be revealed
be sure to remove the small Y plastic connector there when you pull the res box

Does not affect smog readings or visual inspection, I get the lowest readouts the Ca machine can register= 0s and 1s = well below allowed and great for a TL

Plus the stock airbox sits nice and high to protect from water, and the lower plastic engine panel has slots for water drainage after large puddle splash

jdjohn84

The only downside to removing the intake resonator (mine is gone, btw) is that there will a drone sound; the resonator obviously prevents the droning when intalled. So, you won't exactly be stealthy. My girlfriend (and neighbors) can always hear me coming from down the street.

For some, the sound is annoying, but for the benefits of a quicker throttle, I'm willing to live with it.

victus1

That's what I was scared of and I didn't want to remove it for the longest time. But I noticed that some members reported that they had no droning. So I decided to remove my resonator this week and I didn't notice any droning at all. Sure, it makes more noise once the rpm's hit 3k and it roars in the vtec zone....but there was no drone, even on the highway. I hate any sort of drone, especially from exhaust systems.

One suggestion would be to leave the box in and cut out an opening on its side to suck in more volume of cold air at the bottom of the fender area. You shouldn't hear any droning like this, but if you do, you can always cap it with the cutout and some caulking, brackets and screws.

jdjohn84

I only hear the droning at low RPM when idling or parking. It may sound different between TL-S and TL-P (or different years) due to the resonator location/design being different, and/or different intake and throttle body size.

01tl4tl

01TL-P, with K&N filter, not sure if that makes a differance for this purpose,
but never a bit of resonance noise at low rpm with box removed- and stock holes on bottem of it-
just a healthy growl in vtec

(iirc 99s have a differant intake snorkel, that requires a pvc plumbing cap to seal)

Enlarge those 2 holes, rather than make new ones on the side of airbox
look at how it sits to understand

If your vtec engages at 3k,,, there is a problem!!

AZsilverTl

I don't think there is anything wrong with your car. At 70mph in D5, you are sitting just under 2k RPM. TL-S is still torque-less down low, so if you "press down 15%" it won't do anything.

I also leave mine in D4 everywhere except for prolonged freeway driving. This puts you at 3k RPM at 70mph, and car is a lot more responsive there.